Polytron Announces Plans to Port ‘Fez’ to More Platforms in 2013

Developer Polytron — which is really just one guy named Phil Fish at this point — announced that their (his) unique puzzle platformer Fez will be going multiplatform some time this year. As part of a New Years address Fish broke the news, but unfortunately did not point out which of those other platforms Fez might be headed to.

As of right now Fez is only available on the Xbox Live Arcade, where it has been performing very well thanks to strong critical buzz and an ongoing gamer curiosity. Obviously a lot of the magic of Fez has worn off over time, as the “code” for better understanding the game’s mechanics was uncovered and detailed online, but that should be reinvigorated once it releases on other platforms.

Our best guess would be that Fez is for sure headed to the PC, with a PSN release as the next likely candidate. Both are logical extensions from that XBLA base, with the PC version having the potential of being a real “game changer.” It’s unclear how far Fish wants to go with a port, but we could also see Fez popping up on iOS or Android devices and working quite well.

Here’s Fish’s message:

2012 was crazy.

But what now?

2013 is going to be an interesting one, too.

For one, FEZ will finally be ported to other platforms.

Yes, I’ve heard you, dozens of people emailing me everyday telling me how much of an idiot i am for not porting FEZ to everything.

The world-flipping mechanic lends itself well to a horizontal swipe and tapping on the screen could function as jumping or contextual interactions. The art style of Fez — a kind of retro 8 or 16-bit look — wouldn’t push mobile devices either, although frame rate could become an issue.

The only real thing to consider besides where Polytron might port Fez — which received the coveted 5/5 score from Game Rant — is how long it would take to perform such a task. Fish’s quest to get Fez made is one of legend (and is summed up quite nicely in the film Indie Game: The Movie), so we’re curious how hard (or easy) it would be to port such a passion project to other platforms.

For now, though, it’s nice to hear that Fish hasn’t forgotten about the other platforms out there and has plans to bring Fez to a larger segment of gamers. The game itself might not be for everyone, but its unique concept is certainly worth checking out.

What platforms would you like to see Fez ported to? Do you think that Fez will work on mobile devices?

4 Comments

i’d like it on the WiiU, the console needs a solid stable of arcade titles if it’s ever going to compete/take advantage of the technology, in my opinion. plus, i feel like playing on the gamepad would be a big plus for Fez.